The life story and career accomplishments of Peter (“Pete”) Risby are truly extraordinary in Canadian mining history. He was a tenacious entrepreneur of Black and German descent who overcame adversity to become a successful prospector and miner in Northern Canada. He began prospecting in 1957, initially for syndicates, and later on his own or with Indigenous partners. His early finds include the Risby-Tungsten property in Yukon and the Lee property in the Northwest Territories (NWT).
Although born in Australia, Phillip Mackey is known worldwide as one of Canada’s most prominent metallurgists in the field of non-ferrous extractive metallurgy. He is one of the few Canadians to have advanced the development of not one but two significant copper smelting technologies that have benefited copper metallurgical plants around the world.
Quartermain is a longstanding advocate for Indigenous involvement in the resource industry and a generous philanthropist with a focus on education, social justice and wildlife habitat preservation. His social conscience has deep roots from his childhood in St. Stephens, New Brunswick.
Few geologists have made the transition from the field to the boardroom more successfully than Maureen Jensen, or contributed as much to revitalize Canada’s mining and investment industries. She is best known as the first female to head the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), where she championed policies to improve investor protection and encourage diversity for executives and directors of public companies.
David Elliott earned his reputation as one of Canada’s preeminent resource financiers by funding more than 400 exploration and development companies and supporting and mentoring a generation of mining geoscientists.
William (“Bill”) Jewitt has the rare distinction of being an inductee into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (2021) and the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame (1978).
The oceans of the world and volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits were sources of inspiration for Steven Scott, one of Canada’s most prolific and influential geoscientists of recent times.
The career achievements of Patricia (“Pat”) Dillon are unique in Canadian mining history as they encompassed leadership roles in industry associations and outreach initiatives to help the sector navigate social change and chart a more sustainable future.
